Cinderella
by Bionic Egypt
Summary: Chase is at a party when a mysterious girl beckons him onto the dance floor. He might just be falling in love with her. The catch? He doesn't know who she is. When he finds out, will he be able to keep her by his side?


**Here's an AU Brase oneshot! I think that if it weren't for the fact that their related, they would make such a cute couple. Before I rant for a thousand words or more, please enjoy **_**Cinderella**_**.**

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Cinderella

The party was a stupid idea. He didn't even want to be there. Who cared if it was his birthday? No one had bothered to celebrate it when they didn't know who his father was, so why did they bother now? They only cared that he was rich; they didn't care who he was or how he acted. They didn't care about his likes or dislikes.

Now he was sitting at the edge of the room, a glass in his hand as he watched the people who he had invited having fun at the party meant for him. He sighed when someone tried approaching him. This was the part he had dreaded most about that evening: greeting the people who came.

But this girl was different. He had never seen her before, hadn't even remembered inviting her. She came up to him, a soft smile on her beautiful face. Who was this girl? She beckoned him onto the dance floor, and out of curiosity he followed her.

He placed his hands on her waist as she placed hers on his shoulders. A new song started, and the two started gliding across the room. There was one embarrassing point where Chase almost tripped on the skirt of her long, ice blue gown, but he quickly recovered and they continued to dance. After a minute or so of dancing in silence, he spoke up.

"What's your name?" he asked quietly, trying not to ruin the air of tranquility that had descended upon them.

She smiled, her hazel eyes sparkling up at him. "That's a secret," she whispered. "Besides, I don't even know your name."

Now he knew he hadn't invited her to this mockery of a party. Even the people he didn't know here knew him. It was annoying, but it proved his point. But now he was backed into a corner: tell her his name and be flaunted over but learn her name, or not tell her his name and never learn hers.

"Chase," he blurted out before he could think it through. "My name is Chase."

The girl's smile grew. "Chase. It suits you. It's short, but sophisticated."

"Hey!" Chase protested lightly. But now that he had told her his name, she had to tell him hers. "So, what's your name?"

She smiled, tilting her head to see him better. She raised herself slightly so she could whisper in his ear "I can't tell you."

She couldn't tell him? He had told her his name. But Chase ignored that and grabbed her hand before pulling her out of the room and into the gardens that surrounded the manor where the party was being held. The moonlight set the white flowers aglow as it touched the soft petals, casting a silvery quality over the evening.

Chase led her to his favorite spot in the whole garden, an alcove with a small stone bench with intricate carvings detailing the sun and moon. There were white lilies hanging from vines overhead, like chandeliers made by nature.

She gasped as she took in the small nook in the garden. It was beautiful. She smiled at Chase as they sat down on the bench, hands still interlocked. They blushed as they realized the other was still looking at them. Maybe it was just that she hadn't known who he was, but Chase really felt affection for the mysterious girl who he had danced with.

"So, can you tell me your name now?" he asked. "Or is this going to be a Cinderella thing?"

She laughed. "It might be now that you mentioned it," she giggled softly. "Hm, Cinderella. I like it. Call me Cinderella."

Chase grinned. "Well then, Cinderella, were you invited to the party or did you crash it like the princess crashed the ball?"

Cinderella stopped laughing, twirling her dark brown locks around her finger. "I crashed," she stated sadly. "I didn't mean to, but I crashed."

Chase frowned. "Hey, I don't mind. I'm the one they threw it for, anyway."

Cinderella smiled. "So this is your party? This really is like Cinderella, isn't it?"

"I guess it is," Chase grinned. "And you're welcome to crash any party I throw. Or have a party thrown for, I guess."

Cinderella laughed. The two sat in the garden for hours, talking and laughing about everything and anything. When it was three minutes before midnight, Cinderella gestured for Chase to come close. He complied, leaning in close to her. He could smell a mixture of rose and lilac, probably from her perfume –there weren't any of those flowers in this part of the garden.

Cinderella smiled before leaning in close and kissing Chase softly, sweetly, and passionately. Chase leaned into the kiss, pouring all of his newfound love for Cinderella, a girl whose real name he didn't even know, into the kiss. As the clock struck twelve, Cinderella pulled back and cupped Chase's face in her palm.

"This might be too soon," Chase whispered "but I think I'm falling in love with you."

Cinderella chuckled quietly to herself. "You can't be in love with me," she said softly. "It's not right."

Chase felt his heart break. "What?"

Cinderella smiled sadly. "You can't love me; not now, not ever. It won't work. Tomorrow is my last day here."

"Where are you going?" Chase said automatically. "I can go wherever I want; my parents don't care. I can come with you."

She shook her head. "No Chase. Where I'm going, you can't follow. I was given two days to spend with my brother, but I spent tonight with you. I'm so sorry, Chase."

Before Chase could say anything, Cinderella got up and walked off. Chase jumped up off the stone bench and started running after her, but she mysteriously disappeared through the tangles of plants. He called out the name she gave him, feeling ridiculous as he did so.

"Cinderella!" Chase yelled, whipping his head around trying to catch a glimpse of her.

When it was obvious that she was gone, Chase sank back down onto his bench and rested his head in his hands. He let her slip away from him, just after he had fallen in love with her.

And he didn't even know her name.

* * *

"And she just ran off?" Adam asked from his spot on the couch. It was the next day, and Chase was over at his friend Adam's house telling him all about the mysterious girl who he had fallen in love with the night before. The two guys had been friends for about a year now, so they were comfortable enough around each other to talk about girls and love and such.

"Yeah," Chase said. "She just ran off. I didn't even find out what her name was."

"Well, sucks to be you," Adam laughed. He wasn't exactly a compassionate person, but he tried.

Chase rolled his eyes before sighing. "Yeah, I guess it does."

After a few minutes of meaningless chitchat, Chase got up and walked around his friend's house. He still hadn't explored the whole place. He was about to turn and go back to the living room when he noticed a door with sparkly foam letters spelling out the words 'Keep Out Adam.' Curious, Chase pushed open the door and walked inside.

It was definitely a teenage girl's room, maybe for a seventeen year old. There was a diary sitting on the edge of the bed, posters for bands that were two or three years old, and a laptop open on the desk, turned off. Chase was just about to leave when he noticed a picture frame on the desk with a photo of a girl about his age. When he realized who it was a picture of, he gasped.

Cinderella!

He picked up the picture frame and made his way out of the room and into the living room where Adam was still sitting on the couch. Adam looked up, mouth open to ask Chase something when he noticed the picture frame in his hand. Where had Chase gotten that?

"Chase?" Adam asked slowly. "Where did you get that?"

"A better question is where did you get it?" Chase asked. "This is the girl I saw at the party last night."

Adam visibly paled. "You saw her? You're sure it was her?"

Chase frowned. "I don't think I'd forget her that quick, why?"

Adam reached out for the photo frame, which Chase handed back unwillingly. He found her again, and he was so close to figuring out who she was.

"How do you know her?" Chase asked. "Is she a cousin or something?"

Adam gave a deep, sad sigh. "No, that's Bree. She was my younger sister. She's dead."

"What?" Chase gasped. She was dead? No! He had kissed her! He fell in love with her! She couldn't be dead!

"That's not possible," Chase continued. "I –we –she was there. I know it was her! You have to believe me."

"It couldn't have been Bree," Adam explained slowly. As much as it hurt for him to remember his sister, he knew that this was much worse for Chase. "Chase, Bree has been dead for two years. She died in a car crash on the way to a party."

"She died in a car crash?" Chase whispered remembering what Bree had said last night.

"_I crashed," she stated sadly. "I didn't mean to, but I crashed."_

"Oh god; it was Bree. She said she crashed. Adam, I kissed your sister and she was a ghost!" Chase cried, jumping off of the couch.

"Wait, you did what?" Adam asked, stunned. "You didn't mention that earlier!"

"Because he didn't kiss me," a female voice came from the hallway. "I kissed him."

The two boys turned around to see Bree standing in the doorway. She was in the same soft blue dress she had worn to the party last night, but now there were obvious cuts in it, like she had worn it in a crash.

"Bree?" Adam asked softly, looking at his little sister. Bree nodded, a sad smile on her face. Without another word, Adam leaped up from his spot on the couch and rushed across the room, grabbing his sister in a tight, comforting hug.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he muttered, tightening his grip on his little sister.

"I saved up all my haunting time," Bree joked. "No, that's a lie. I begged for two days to come see you, and I almost went to see you yesterday, but I saw Chase sitting all by himself and we danced and started talking. Can you please let me go? I can't breathe."

Adam let go of his sister, pulling back so he could see her. "But you're here, so that means you can stay, right?" No one could deny the hope and pleading that permeated his voice.

Bree smiled softly. "No, I only have an hour left. I wanted to come earlier, but all your other friends were here. Then Chase showed up and I knew that this was the perfect time to say goodbye like I was never able to."

"But you can stay," Adam insisted. "When the light or whatever comes for you, tell it no and stay."

"Adam, give me a minute with Chase, okay?" Bree asked suddenly. "Just a few minutes. I promise I won't disappear on you."

Adam grumbled, but left anyway. Now Chase and Bree were alone in the living room, an awkward silence between them. After a few seconds, Chase crossed the room and pulled Bree into a romantic, passionate kiss.

It was beautiful and awful and romantic and heartbreaking and over much too soon. When the two let go of each other, gazing deep into the other's eyes, Chase knew that this was the last time he would ever see the girl he fell in love with.

"Bree, please don't go," he begged. "I just met you."

Bree's smile fell off her face. "Chase, it's actually harder to say this to you than Adam, but I can't stay. I was only given two days, and if I don't go back in an hour I'll cease to exist. Dying was bad enough."

"What?" Chase questioned. "What do you mean by ceasing to exist?"

Bree sighed sadly. "If I don't go back when I'm supposed to, then I'll vanish and I just won't exist anymore. Rumors about it float around the afterlife, saying that it's worse than dying and I can't go through that. Not when there's a chance I might be able to see you again."

Before Chase could protest, Bree called Adam back into the living room. Adam saw the tears that refused to fade away from Bree and Chase's eyes. He strode across the room and pulled his friend and his sister into a tight group hug.

"It's completely fine with me that you two are dating for the next hour," he mumbled, making them laugh.

After Adam let them go, they all sat down on the couch and started talking. When talking about it later neither Adam nor Chase could remember anything they had talked about, but while they were talking it seemed like time stood still.

An hour later, a bright light descended from the sky, beckoning Bree forward. Both Adam and Chase grabbed one of her hands, begging her silently not to go. Bree pulled herself free from their grasp and started walking to the light. She paused just before she stepped inside and looked back at Adam and Chase.

"Cinderella disappears at midnight again, huh?" Bree joked in a whisper.

Chase gave a weak chuckle. "I guess so."

Bree smiled sadly before saying the last thing the two boys would ever hear her say.

"Goodbye."

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**I know it ended rather suddenly, but I hoped you liked it! Anyway, since I have no idea what else to say, I'll sign off. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


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